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SANCTIFICATION 



RIGHT VIEWS AND OTHER VIEWS 



By S. MrMERRILL 



OINOINNATI: JENNINGS & PYE 
NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copied Received 

AUG. 10 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASS <^XXc. N». 

COPY B, 






COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY 
THE WESTERN METH- 
ODIST BOOK CONCERN. 






PREFATORY NOTE. 



This little booklet is not a treatise, but 
a summary of views designed to give direc- 
tion to inquirers wishing to pursue the sub- 
ject in its doctrinal bearings as well as in 
its practical features. It is sent out with 
the hope that it may aid in removing the 
reproach that has come to the doctrine 
through partial, superficial, and extreme 
teachings, and my prayer goes with it that 

its mission may be successful. 

S. M. M. 
Chicago, June^ 1901. 

3 



SMCTIEICATION. 



I. 

In presenting the following thoughts on 
sanctification I wish to say that it is not 
my purpose to set forth views differing from 
the current belief of the Church, but rather 
to make that belief clear to the understand- 
ing of ordinary inquirers, and to free it 
somewhat from the mists that have gath- 
ered about it by reason of partisan and 
inadequate representations. 

My persuasion is firm that the founders 
of our Methodism apprehendbd and force- 
fully presented the scope and spirit of the 



6 Sanctification. 

Gospel with ref ereince to the privileges of 
believers in their wonderful experiences of 
emerging from sin — death — ^into the full- 
orbed life of righteousness. They did this 
in the presence of difficulties which we can 
not appreciate, since conditions have so 
changed as to make things plain to us which 
were seen but dimly, if at all, in their day. 
The shifting grounds of opposition to the 
doctrines of the Church necessarily affect 
the expressions of the defenders of the 
faith, giving the appearance of modifica- 
tions of belief where no real change has 
taken place. In this way it has occurred 
that some of the pulpits of Methodism have 
caused honest inquirers to have trouble in 
distinguishing between accurate and inac- 
curate representations of the most vital 



Sanctifioation. 7 

teachings of tlie fathers, and made it pos- 
sible for intense zeal and bold assertion to 
take the place of intelligent exposition, re^ 
suiting in the mystification and confusion of 
patient hearers. 

Instead of propounding a theory of sanc- 
tification which will emphasize soniei par- 
ticular feature or incident or manifesta- 
tion of the work, to me it seems well to 
avoid theorizing as far as possible, and to 
confine attention to the facts of the Gospel, 
and to the essential nature of the work of 
grace designated by this word, and by kin- 
dred and correlative terms. Sanctification 
is at most only a part of the work of salva- 
tion, and represents a feature which does 
not exist except in conjunction with other 
features bearing a similar relation to the 



8 Sanctification. 

whole. Salvation is the more compre- 
hensive term, and in an impoi*tant sense 
the work of salvation is a unit; that is, it 
is one work or one deliverance, resulting, 
it may be, from a variety of agencies, but, 
nevertheless, it is a concrete experience, 
which has a distinct beginning, and pro- 
gresses and matures or culminates in the 
complete renewal of the soul in the image 
of God. This great work may be called, in 
general terms, conversion, salvation, or 
sanctification, as the desire may be to em- 
phasize one particular feature of it, or to 
express it comprehensively as a whole. 

If I understand current thought on this 
subject, the differences of opinion and the 
discussions which arise with regard to it re- 
late almost entirely to the analysis of the 



Sanotification. 9 

work, to the separation of it into different 
parts or elements, and to descriptions of 
these parts in their isolation and in their 
relations to one another and to the whole. 
Theorizing finds its purpose and sphere in 
this work of differentiation, and the Scrip- 
tures give little countenance or assistance 
to it. So long as attention is kept upon the 
work of salvation as a whole, or upon its 
results in lifting the believer into a new 
life and new relations to God, there is little 
room for differences of opinion or for dis- 
putations about modes and processes; for 
in actual experience the work is so unique, 
so complete in its results, so perfectly 
adapted to the needs and longings of the 
soul, and so manifestly the work of Grod^s 
infinite wisdom and love, that it is gladly 



10 Sanctificatiok. 

accepted as the Divine healing^ as one who 
lias been sick accepts restored bealtli and 
rejoices in it withont waiting to compreliend 
the functions and agencies employed in his 
recovery. 

There is, however^ a possible analysis of 
this work, which, when rightly made, may 
be edifying, and aid in the elucidation of 
the subject as a whole, as well as in under- 
standing the terms employed in the Scrip- 
tures with reference to it. In point of fact, 
there are different elements in the experi- 
ence of salvation from sin — elements dis- 
tinct and vital — which must be considered 
separately and conjointly if a, comprehen- 
sive and discriminating view is taken of the 
subject. 

The legal side of this work comes first 



Sanctification. 1 1 

in order, and deserves more thought than is 
usually bestowed upon it. It comes first 
because it precedes and provides for every 
other part, and is so related to the whole 
scheme of salvation that all else will be 
darkness unless light shines here. To this 
side or department belong all those terms 
which speak of sin and of salvation as re^ 
lated to the law of God or as affected by 
it. Sin, transgression, condemnation; par- 
don, forgiveness, justification — these are 
forensic terms, drawing their meaning from 
the law and from the Divine dealing with 
men under the law, or as related to it. It 
is not possible to get hold of the mean- 
ing of Christ's mission without studying it 
in the light of the relation of God's law 
to men and to tlie universe. The whole 



12 Sanctification. 

office of the Redeemer has primarily a rer 
lation to the law, and especially to its in- 
flexibility and universality. Redemption 
from the curse of the law was his great 
work, and underlies all experiences and all 
gracious privileges. The expiation of hu- 
man guilt by his sacrifice was the great 
legal transaction. That was the atonement 
— the redemption. Every gracious benefit 
flows from that as a stream from its foun- 
tain. 

The making over to the individual sin- 
ner of the merit of the sacrifice of Christ 
is the first legal transaction with the peni- 
tent who seeks salvation. This work ac- 
complished is justification in the sense of 
pardon or forgiveness. It is legal in its 
relation to the law, but it is a comprehensive 



Sanctification. 13 

blessing, carrying with it the legal right 
to every other element of the generic or 
concrete salvation, securing the reversal of 
the sentence of condemnation, the new birth 
of the soul into the life of God, the wash- 
ing away of legal and moral defilement con- 
tracted by actual sin, and therefore a 
gracious adoption into the family of God. 
It is not an isolated blessing going before 
other blessings, and leaving them to follow 
or to fail. Its precedence is in the order 
of thought and the order of its relation, 
and not in the order of time and of fact. 
The justified man is the converted man. It 
must be, therefore, that the justified state 
implies the presence of the concomitants of 
justification, and means that every justified 
believer is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, 



1 4: S ANCTIFIC ATIOK. 

and sanctified through the blood of the ever- 
lasting covenant. 

This view of the conversion of a sinner 
indicates the tremendous significance of the 
wonderful achievement. It also brings to 
the believer the possibility of a just ap- 
preciation of his present inheritance in 
Ohristj and of the richness of that grace 
which has abounded unto him through the 
faith that brought pardon and peace and 
personal acceptance. When the Spirit at- 
tests the filial relation attained, it also 
brings assurance of the fullness of the love 
of Christ yet to be unfolded in the de- 
veloping graces and experiences to be 
wrought out in daily duties, self-denials, 
temptations, victories, and consecrations, till 
the incipient life implanted expands and 



S ANCTIFIO ATION. 1 6 

matures into the richer fruitage promised 
in the gift of the Comforter. 

As just indicated, there is a life-side or 
a life-element in this work which calls for 
special consideration. The necessity of this 
element is found in the condition of the 
sinner, and it is, therefore, neither specu- 
lative, hypothetical, nor arbitrary, but a 
fact. The sinner is dead — "dead in tres- 
passes and sins'' — dead spiritually, and 
tlierefore inactive and helpless. In the ex- 
perience of the generic salvation, he passes 
"from death into life." When guilt is can- 
celed and condemnation removed, the quick- 
ening Spirit imparts new life. This is re- 
generation, the new birth, the beginning 
to live again as a new creature. It is not 
identical with pardon, but accompanies it. 



16 Sanctificatioit. 

The justified are not left in a state of deatli. 
"He that hath the Son of God hath life/' 
"The dead shall hear the voice of the Son 
of Godj and they that hear shall live.'' 
They are made alive in Christ; they are 
risen with Christ. Each one can say, "I 
live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." 
To be born is to begin to live; to be born 
again is to begin to live a new life, the 
life of Him of whom we are born. Every 
one bom of God has the life of God within 
him. This is the vital fact in salvation. 
A dead soul can not be a child of God. 

I have been impressed many times that 
too little attention is given to this life ele- 
ment. Regeneration always relates to it in 
the Scriptures, and it is the source of light, 
spiritual vision, activity, power over sin, 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 1 7 

and of the aggressive forces brought out 
in the conflicts with evil, as well as the 
ground of all growth in grace and holiness. 
There is another element in this salva- 
tion which also has place because of the 
condition of the subject of it. The sinner 
is condemned, as we have seen, and must 
be justified; he is dead, and must be made 
alive; and he is also morally polluted or 
filthy, and must be washed or cleansed. 
This washing process is distinct from the 
quickening process which gives life, but is 
not separate from it. ITo converted soul 
remains unwashed. Such a condition is 
scarcely thinkable. This washing is sancti- 
fication. The word means just this. It 
relates to the act of cleansing, and thus 
introduces the element of purity as regen- 



18 Sanctification. 

eration does the element of life. Hence, 
every sinner is washed when he is saved — 
converted. He is justified, regenerated, 
sanctified; for salvation includes these three 
elements or processes. As God has no dead 
children, none not made alive in Christ, so 
he never owns an unwashed or unsanctified 
child. The experience of salvation includes 
every needed process and element. The 
Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinth- 
ians, speaks of ^^babes in Christ,'' and de- 
clares them sanctified in Christ. They were 
sanctified as surely as they were born into 
the kingdom. Mr. Wesley taught exactly 
this, and Mr. Fletcher, Adam Clarke, 
Richard Watson, Joseph Benson, and all 
the old Methodist divines taught it with- 
out exception. It can scarcely be called a 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 1 9 

theory; it is not a theory, but a fact, for 
it accepts the fact without attempting to 
explain its modes. 

From the beginning;, Methodism has held 
that all believers are sanctified at conver- 
sion — that salvation includes justification, 
regeneration, and sanctification, making a 
complete deliverance from the guilt, power, 
and pollution of sin. There is nothing new, 
dark, or misleading in this, and yet it is 
not a full statement of the doctrine of the 
Church, as the intelligent reader will at 
once discover. It only claims to be cor- 
rect as far as it goes. The fact must be 
added, and stated with all distinctness, 
that Methodism has always made a dis- 
tinction between sanctification as a con- 
comitant of justification, and "entire sancti- 



20 Sanotificatioi^. 

fication/' using the modifying word to dis- 
tinguish the subsequent and fuller work 
which comes after conversion, sometimes at 
a much later date, and often reveals itself 
in connection with some wonderful spiritual 
uplift. The authorities in Methodism 
above named not only taught the expedi- 
ency of making the distinction between the 
ordinary sanctification and ^ ^entire" sancti- 
fication, but the necessity of it, holding it 
to be impossible to convey the idea of the 
higher state by the use of the word sancti- 
fication without the use of an auxiliary, 
such as ^^entire," ^VhoUy," or the like; so 
that it is the phase of the subject brought 
before us by these qualifying terms that 
calls for particular attention. 

It is worthy of remark at this point that 



Sanctification. 21 

nearly all the theorizings, speculations, and 
disputations that have distracted and af- 
flicted the Church in connection with the 
subject of sanctification have occurred with 
reference to this last feature of the general 
doctrine, and a deplorable condition has en- 
sued in many places. Sad indeed that the 
most precious things of the Grospel should 
be liable to such abuse! 



II. 

Then it is to the doctrine of entire sanc- 
tification or complete holiness that we must 
now direct our thoughts. What is it? What 
does it involve, and what are its relations? 
Definitions are abundant, and they are as 
clear as can be made. They pervade our 
literature, and I shall attempt nothing new 
in this line. With the conception of sane- 
tification already given, one can hardly go 
astray in the application of the auxiliaries 
mentioned. ^^Entire sanctification'' must 
mean thorough cleansing, and to be "sanc- 
tified wholly" must mean to be cleansed 
in all parts and to the fullest degree pos- 
sible. As cleansing results in being made 
22 



Sanctification. 23 

clean, and as cleanness is purity, and purity 
is holiness, the wholly sanctified person is 
completely holy. There is no room for mis- 
understanding at this point. The Scrip- 
tural standard is thus brought out. It is 
a "clean heart," a "pure heart," a heart 
cleansed "from all sin," "from all unright- 
eousness," "purified from all filthiness of 
the flesh and of the spirit," and hence a 
state of freedom from sin. Thus sanctifica- 
tion, in all stages, relates to the washing 
away of sin, the removal from the soul of 
the pollution and the polluting power of 
sin. So far as is discoverable from the 
word, or from the nature of the work, or 
the nature of the particular process it repre- 
sents, there is nothing of a positive kind 
brought into the soul in this cleansing act. 



24 Sanctifioation. 

If life is imparted or strengthened, as it 
doubtless is, that work is not covered by 
the word sanctification, unless in a few in- 
stances where the name of a part is put for 
the whole. The coincident act of imparting 
life is specifically expressed by the word 
"quickening/' or the word "regeneration/' 
so that sanctification, whether particular or 
general, whether partial or complete, in all 
places and in all applications, retains its 
significance, and points to cleanness or 
purity as its resultant state. 

This doctrine of entire sanctification is 
not to be confounded with the evangelical 
doctrine of Christian perfection, although 
it is freely conceded that the two doctrines 
are closely allied and bear important re- 
lations to one another. Not a few con- 



Sanctification. 25 

found them and treat them as if they were 
identical, using, interchangeably, the terms 
expressing the different phases of the gen- 
eric salvation they represent, leading to 
misconceptions, inaccuracies, distractions, 
and disputations. If I may be allowed the 
intimation, and suggest it without undue 
boldness, I will say that the most serious 
lack of clearness in the treatment of this 
subject by our revered founder is at this 
point. Assuming the oneness of the con- 
crete experience, where the presence of one 
element implies the presence of all the 
others, he so speaks as to carry the impres- 
sion that entire sanctification and Christian 
perfection are the same thing, and, in some 
instances, uses one phrase to define the 
other. For his day, and in view of the 



2 6 S ANCTIFIC ATION. 

state of tlie discussion as it came before 
him and his coadjutors, when the state re- 
sultant from the processes of this complex 
experience was assailed and denied as im- 
possible to the most evangelical faith, his 
treatment was adequate, and its general 
soundness to be acknowledged; but when 
we study the subject in the light of later 
investigations, when friends of the doctrine 
have pushed their inquiries to a critical 
analysis of the component properties and 
methods of the experience and the induc- 
tion into it, it is not presumptuous to re- 
view the general definitions of the gracious 
state in question, and seek for more exact 
descriptions of the processes and elements 
making up the exceedingly rich inheritance 
of faith. 



Sanctifioation". 27 

Let us, then, attend to some distinctions 
which will not all prove to be distinctions 
without a difference. In view of errors 
prevailing in many minds, it is necessary 
to distinguish between sanctification and 
growth. These are not identical. Sancti- 
fication is a work, a process, a Divine cleans- 
ing; it is a work wrought by the Holy 
Spirit in answer to prayer and faith, and 
is, therefore, a present privilege. It oc- 
curs at conversion, but is not restricted to 
the hour of conversion, being neither com- 
pleted nor discontinued at the period of that 
wonderful consummation. It goes on, as 
necessity requires, after conversion, ^^cleans- 
ing and keeping" the heart clean, for with- 
out the continuous cleansing the once puri- 
fied person would contract defilement in 



28 SANCTIFICATTO]Sr. 

daily contact with external life, as well as 
througli the motions of the flegh or the 
lingering forces of carnality within. 

It is therefore evident that sanctification, 
as it takes place in conversion, is instanta- 
neous, wrought by a Divine agency, even 
the same agency that regenerates and im- 
parts life to the soul delivered from the 
death of sin and raised up into the life 
of righteousness; and yet that instantaneous 
washing is not the whole of sanctification, 
nor the only sanctification. There is be- 
yond it a sanctification which is not in- 
stantaneous, but continuous, a progressive 
work, going on in harmony with gTacious 
provisions for supplementary grace, such as 
the exposures and temptations of life in this 
world render necessary. While instanta- 



SANCTIFICATIOlSr. 29 

neous in its first manifestation, it is pro- 
gressive in its continuous processes after 
conversion, and progressive till the conquest 
of sin is completed, and the resultant purity 
warrants the employment of the auxiliaries 
^^entire" and "wholly;'' but even this pro- 
gressive sanctification is not growth. As it 
is a cleansing, it can not be a growth. It 
never means that, and can not be called 
a growth except in an accommodated or 
metaphorical use of the word. Growth is 
a process or function of life. It is the 
manifestation, the unfolding, the outreach- 
ing, and developing of life. Growth per- 
tains to the life element, and not to the 
purifying element in the comprehensive sal- 
vation. Sanctification aims at purity, tends 

to purity, results in purity — holiness. 
S 



30 Sanctification. 

Growth aims at maturity^ progresses towards 
maturity, and culminates in maturity — ^per- 
fection. Eacli has its work, its sphere, and 
its goal, and each is distinct from the other 
and should be so distinguished in all correct 
reasoning. 

Here arises a question that calls for an- 
other distinction, and one not less impor- 
tant than that between sanctification and 
growth. It is, ^^Are not these differently- 
named goals identical?" Some assume that 
they are, but not many. Divines usually 
distinguish widely between purity and ma- 
turity. In this they do well. They are 
not identical, nor are they necessarily co- 
etaneous; but they are related, and in a 
sense mutually dependent. Purity is not 
maturity, but it is necessary to maturity, 



S ANCTIFIC ATIOlSr. 3 1 

although maturity is not necessary to pu- 
rity. Purity and holiness are the same, the 
result of sanctification, the outcome of the 
spiritual cleansing^ and not the outcome of 
growth in any proper sense, however that 
may accompany the process and prove to 
be coincident with it. Maturity is the out- 
come, the culmination of growth, the state 
resultant therefrom, and not the immediate 
product of the cleansing. 

Books have been written on purity and 
maturity, showing the broad distinction be- 
tween them — some of them good books. 
Dr. Wood, late of the National Holiness 
Association, has one which has many ex- 
cellent features. Dr. McDonald approves 
it, and in his own works writes in the same 
strain. Dr. Inskip preached vigorously on 



3 2 S ANCTIFIC ATIOT^. 

this distinction, insisting upon it as neces- 
sary to the proper understanding of the doc- 
trine of holiness. Dr. Asbury Lowrey ably 
maintained the same ground, and Dr. 
Daniel Steele walks in the same path with 
unfaltering step. Besides these, and before 
their day, many able men, who never at- 
tained the doctorate in divinity, grappled 
the problem with eminent skill, and blazed 
the way for others to follow. Among these 
were John Wesley, John Fletcher, and 
Richard Watson. These all saw the differ- 
ence between purity and maturity, and all 
recognized the impropriety of confounding 
growth in grace with Christian purity. 

An additional remark should be made 
here in justice to our representative authors 
who have sometimes spoken of purity and 



Sanctification. 33 

holiness, and matnrity and perfection, as if 
all these terms were about synonymous, and 
might be used interchangeably. Close ob- 
servation reveals the fact that in such in- 
stances they were not dealing with exact 
definitions so much as with the state of 
the persons fully sanctified, whose experi- 
ence, in fact, included all the processes of 
pardon, quickening, regeneration, sanctifi- 
cation, growth, development, bearing fruit, 
and ripening into maturity. As descriptive, 
or rather as a comprehensive expression of 
such a state of grace, it is quite allowable 
to speak of it as a state of entire sancti- 
fication, or as a state of maturity, or as 
Christian perfection. This practice pre- 
vailed with our founders and first defenders, 
as also with later advocates, such as Hed- 



34 Sanctification. 

ding, Peck, and Foster. It is not neces- 
sarily misleading wlien the general terms 
are not taken as descriptive of tlio specific 
elements, phases, or processes of the one 
great salvation. As God purifies the heart 
by faith, and does it at the birth of the 
believer into the new life, and continues 
it through all stages of growth, develop- 
ment, enlightenment, and conquest, it is not 
improper to afiirm that men grow into a 
deeper and broader and purer and stronger 
spiritual life, the life of faith in the Son 
of God; for all the different elements in the 
concrete experience are reciprocally com- 
plementary and harmonious, and never an- 
tagonistic. The mature Christian is cer- 
tainly a holy man, and the man who is en- 
tirely sanctified is almost as certainly so 



Sanctification. 86 

well advanced in the spiritual graces that 
little if any mistake is made in speaking 
of him as a mature or perfect Christian, as 
has been the custom of writers on this sub- 
ject from the beginning. 

This brings us to consider another dis- 
tinction between things that differ, and one 
which has not received as much attention 
as have some others. It is the distinction 
between purity and perfection. In my 
thought this is essential. Many of the doc- 
tors whose activity in this discussion has 
been marked and largely commendable, 
have gone quite astray at this point, and, 
as a consequence, have involved the whole 
subject in confusion with sad results, such 
as misleading inquirers, belittling the 
holiest and grandest attainment possible in 



36 Sanctification. 

this life, as well as throwing the door wide 
open for deception, extravagance, fanati- 
cism, and all manner of evils. Of course, 
so severe an arraignment requires justifica- 
tion, and, being justified, in turn demands 
the closest consideration. 

As above remarked, they make a broad 
and proper distinction between purity and 
maturity, and do it well, proving beyond 
all question that these diflPer widely in na- 
ture, process, and' result, showing that pu- 
rity comes from cleansing, and maturity 
from growth and the development of the 
graces of the Christian life. So far, well; 
but now for the mistake. It is in the fact 
that after making this distinction between 
purity and maturity, they make no distinc- 
tion between purity and perfection. This 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 3 7 

omission leaves the impression tliat purity 
and perfection are identical, and the writers 
and preachers in qnestion habitually treat 
them as one, applying the same Scriptures 
to the one and the other indifferently, and 
using the terms interchangeably. The prac- 
tical result is deplorable beyond question. 
Intensely zealous followers of such teaching 
insist on purity of heart as a present privi- 
lege, dwell rapturously on the power of the 
cleansing blood, urge all to seek purity at 
once, and indirectly, if not directly, dis- 
parage the process of growth, or treat it 
as something relating to a different con- 
dition of things in life, and then call upon 
all whose emotional experiences lead them 
to believe that their hearts have been puri- 
fied, to avow that attainment, and call it 



3 8 S ANCTIFIC ATION, 

Christian perfection. In response to sueli 
appeals, many honest and earnest souls, in 
the ardor of their good intentions, and in 
the glow of their first love, following the 
impulses of an enthusiasm bom of sincere 
devotion, accept this teaching, and declare 
their cleansing, and take upon themselves 
the high profession of perfection in love. 
They are not mature — do not claim to be; 
they are quite immature, young men and 
young women with little knowledge and 
little experience in the ways of the world, 
pure-minded, susceptible, teachable, ^^babes 
in Christ," and yet they have been led to 
make what is manifestly a premature pro- 
fession of Christian perfection. 

Such cases are not rare. They are found 
in all sections, especially where professional 



Sanctification. 39 

revivalists have access to the congregations, 
and cherish the belief that their success and 
popularity will be measured by the num- 
ber of their sanctifications. Indeed, they 
are so numerous as to awaken anxiety in 
many Churches; and yet, fortunately, 
through the judicious treatment of pastors 
and the godly help of experienced Chris- 
tians, many are rescued from the imminent 
peril to which they are exposed, and 
brought to a wise and wholesome conse- 
cration of their lives to the service of Christ. 
But others there are to whom this hasty 
profession proves disastrous. They run 
well for a season, and then discover that 
they are not perfect, but compassed about 
with weaknesses, liable to temptations, fall 
into darkness and doubt, and realize that 



40 SANCTIFICATIOlSr. 

they have been deceived in the matter of 
Christian perfection, as they surely have 
been; and then they too readily yield to 
the persuasion that their whole experience 
was a delusion, lose heart and lose faith, 
fall into apostasy, and are lost. 

This picture is not overdrawn, dark as 
it is. With the teaching and practice de- 
scribed one can scarcely see how a different 
result could be expected. But let no one 
imagine that such dire results must follow 
the judicious teaching of Christian perfec- 
tion, as found in the Scriptures and re- 
ceived by Methodism. The evil deprecated! 
comes from the abuse of the doctrine, 
which is also an abuse of Methodism. The 
broader and clearer view — the real Meth- 
odistic view — escapes this danger and 



SANCTIFICATIOlSr. 41 

avoids tlie ruinous pervorsion of a most 
precious truth, by distinguishing between 
purity and perfection exactly as we distin- 
guish between purity and maturity. For 
this tbere is high authority. The fathers 
defined perfection by using the word ma- 
turity. In their thought these were one, 
and one was equivalent to the other; they 
represented the same result, the same grace. 
The plainest common sense affirms that if 
there be such a wide difference between 
purity and maturity, and if there is no 
difference between maturity and perfec- 
tion, then there ought to be some distinc- 
tion between purity and perfection. This 
is a crucial point. Many excellent writers 
have shown slight lameness here. As we 
have seen, Mr. Wesley did not always give 



42 Sanctification. 

full significance to this distinction. He 
mostly spoke of tlie concrete experience, 
of the condition of the believer in that state, 
and that in general terms, without noting 
the distinctions which he undoubtedly 
recognized. But Mr. Wesley made no dis- 
tinction between maturity and perfection; 
neither do our modern doctors attempt to 
do this, for, indeed, they can not. It is 
a question as to whether perfection shall 
be identified with purity or with maturity. 
It can not be identified with both, because 
both are not the same, but widely different. 
If it be identified or made identical with 
purity, then it precedes maturity, and ma- 
turity is not the proper word to use in de- 
fining it; and Wesley, Fletcher, Clarke, 
Watson, Peck, Hedding, Foster, and all the 



Sanctification. 43 

rest, made a mistake when they accepted as 
a proper definition the saying: ^^We give 
the name of Christian perfection to that 
maturity of grace and holiness which es- 
tablished adult believers attain to under the 
Christian dispensation. . . . Hence it 
appears that by Christian perfection we 
mean nothing but the cluster and maturity 
of the graces which compose the Christian 
character in the Church militant.'' 

Then, assuming that the authorities have 
made no mistake in thus defining Christian 
perfection and treating it as identical with 
maturity, it must follow that it is a serious, 
far-reaching, and disastrous error to iden- 
tify it with purity, unless all are mistaken 
in distinguishing between purity and ma- 
turity as they have done. We are tied up 



44 SANCTIFICATIOlSr. 

to tlie choice of identifying perfection with 
purity or with maturity, and we follow the 
highest authorities, as well as the dictates 
of the highest reason, and the Scriptures 
as well, in making it identical with matu- 
rity, and hence in requiring that the same 
distinction be made between purity and per- 
fection that is made between purity and 
maturity. 

The doctrine of heart-purity through 
sanctification is a most blessed truth, fully 
attested in Holy Scripture, and in con- 
nection with the new life bom into the 
soul through regeneration, and leading on- 
ward to the maturity of faith, love, and 
all the graces of the Spirit, eventuating in 
that perfection of Christian character which 
is the privilege of established believers, is 



Sanctification. 45 

far too precious to be dragged down into 
the dust and straw of confused emotional- 
ism, as is done when the necessary distinc- 
tions are not made. 

While in a loose and general way it may 
be true that Christian purity stands, in 
Methodist thought, for Christian perfec- 
tion, in accurate conception it stands only 
as preparatory to the higher state, and as 
a condition precedent to the grandest of all 
attainments. To be made perfect in Christ 
Jesus is something which "babes in Christ'^ 
are not expected to reach so long as they 
are "babes," but which becomes their privi- 
lege when they "put away childish things'^ 
and "grow up into him'' unto the measure 
of the stature of a perfect manhood. There 

is nothing so great in the realm of spiritual 
4 



46 Sanctifioation. 

gifts to men as tlie perfectioii of the soul 
in love to God and love to man — a per- 
fection which means completeness, matu- 
rity, ripeness, impossible of attainment ex- 
cept through sanctification of the Spirit 
unto purity of heart and obedience of life. 



in. 

It is not possible to -understand sanctifi- 
cation as a distinct work of grace without 
studying it in the light of its relation to 
other aspects of the complete work of sal- 
vation. This method has been pursued thus 
far, and must be continued to the end. 
Where three things are essential to a given 
result, each indispensable, it is useless, as 
well as difficult, to compare them with a 
view to forming an estimate of their rela- 
tive value. If each one is necessary, each 
may be esteemed as important as the whole, 
since the whole can not be in the absence 
of any of its parts. 

As has been shown, salvation is composed 
47 



48 Sanctification". 

of three distinct elements, involving dis- 
tinct processes, each looking to a distinct 
result — distinct, but not separated. One 
gives freedom from condemnation, and in 
its nature and work is legal; one gives life 
where death reigned, and in its nature and 
work is vital; and the other removes filthi- 
ness and gives purity, and therefore in its 
nature and work it is purifying. These ele- 
ments are distinct in themselves, yet they 
work together as if one, all springing from 
the same source or cause, and coming into 
activity on the same condition. Hence, the 
justified man is born again and purified 
from the defilement of all forgiven sin. He 
is a new creation. In his renewed nature 
are the elements of a new character, with 
all the embryotic graces of the Holy Spirit, 



Sanctification. 49 

with germinating power adequate, if nour- 
ished and not repressed, to produce a com- 
plete Christian life. This is a rich endow- 
ment, worthy of the Divine Griver, and 
equal to the necessities of any adopted child 
of God'. It is the heritage of faith, com- 
prising all the elements of salvation, and 
these concurring and working together, 
each in its place and appropriate sphere, so 
that, as in the body, one member can not 
say to another meonber, ^^I have no need 
of thee,'' so in this gracious work of sal- 
vation one element can not say that any 
other element is needless. God has tem- 
pered and adjusted them one to another, and 
all of them to the development of his own 
image in the soul. Believing this, and ap- 
prehending it clearly, it is only important 



60 Sanctification. 

to add that one of these elements is not 
the product of another. Each, in respect 
of the others, is independent, as each comes 
from the Divine source as an original en- 
dowment, or as an active energy, leaving 
no room for comparison or for superiority 
or inferiority in the wonderful gifts of 
grace. In the divers administrations there 
is one Spirit. 

An important, practical question arises 
here which disturbs many anxious minds, 
and furnishes occasion to give a practical 
turn to this study. It is, ^^Shall the seeker 
or the believer distinguish these several ele- 
ments in his mind, and make one or another 
the special object of his pursuit, without 
at the same time concerning himself about 
the other elements?'^ It is scarcely possible 



Sanctification. 61 

to do this intelligently, since one seldom 
makes mental analysis of the concrete sal- 
vation desired, and would find the effort 
rather distracting than helpful in earnest 
devotion, even if capable of the intellectual 
exercise and predisposed to it. But it is a 
task to which very many are not equal, and 
therefore it can not be a duty in any such 
sense as to condition success or to become 
a law to the inexperienced and uncultured; 
and since it can not be a law to all, it should 
not be regarded as a law to any. If purity 
of heart be singled out and e^mphasized as 
the distinct blessing needed, it is because 
of particular teaching on that point, and 
may be because the life element, becomes 
vigorous so as to stir the energies of the 
soul to special sensitiveness and to activity 



62 Sanctification. 

in drawing near to God for the fullness of 
his blessing. The heart's real anxiety in 
its awakened condition is for more of God, 
for his manifested presence in vivifying the 
soul, and filling and assimilating it in his 
own way. In its deepest struggles for 
purity it cries out for God, for the living 
God; and when he comes, as come he will, 
it is without waiting for his needy child] 
to accomplish the intellectual analysis of 
the great salvation, so as to specify the ele- 
ments composing it, and rightly distribute 
them. He who seeks God seeks holiness, 
and life, and power, and victory, and all 
there is in salvation. As the object of 
faith is the Son of God, risen and exalted, 
and not merely the blessings he purchased 
in severalty, so, in receiving him, the be- 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 5 3 

liever receives whatever is in liim, with all 
needed spiritual illumination, quickening, 
cleansing, power, and helpfulness. Jesus 
Christ is made unto him wisdom, righteous- 
ness, sanctification, and redeimption. 

The question is still pressed, ^^Must we 
not be definite in our aim, fixing the mind 
on a specific blessing, and ask for that par- 
ticular thing?'' There is no doubt that 
great explicitness in asking is permissible in 
our daily devotions; that so far forth as we 
can know the exact thing we need and de- 
sire, we may ask for it in submission to 
the Divine will ; but this does not carry with 
it the implication that we must distinguish 
in thought between pardon and purity, or 
between the life-giving energy and the 
purifying process, and ask for this and not 



54 Sanctification. 

for tliat. Particularizing can be carried too 
far nnd'er the idea of definiteness in aim. 
The attempt to map out the form and di- 
mensions of eivery particular blessing, and 
to name and number each in its order, is 
a useless task, and unprofitable in the ex- 
treme. If we put away sin, and lift up 
our souls to God in holy consecration for 
an increase of knowledge and love, ear- 
nestly desiring the death unto sin and the 
life unto righteousness, no disappointment 
need be feared because of any failure to 
designate the distinct elements in the sav- 
ing process most urgently demanded by our 
actual spiritual state. These elements, 
however important in themselves, are not 
so clearly marked that faith may appre- 
hend them separately and with infallible . 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 5 5 

discrimination. God may be trusted to take 
care of his own part of the work, and to 
distribute the elements and manage the 
processes necessary to it, when, with our 
needs and helplessness, we put ourselves 
in his hands. 

The question is sometimes asked, with 
evident sincerity: ^^Is there any such thing 
as growing into purity or holiness?'' This 
must be answered because of the use that 
has been made of it. Catchwords and 
phrases are sometimes more successful in 
gaining the attention of people not given 
to close thinking than are substantial argu- 
ments. In the interest of a given theory 
of sanctification it is said', ^^You can grow 
in grace, but not into grace.'' The applica- 
tion is that there is no such thing as grow- 



5 6 SaNCTIFIO ATION. 

ing into sanctifioation or holiness. People 
are admonislied not to await the process of 
growth to obtain the great benefit of com- 
plete redemption, with the result that 
growth in the knowledge and love of God 
is disparaged, and the teachings of all who 
believe in a gradual or progressive sancti- 
fication are set at naught without being 
correctly applied or understood. The 
answer to the question is both negative and 
affirmative. In one respect we can not 
grow into grace, and in another we can, 
and do, and must. There is a slight dif- 
ference, of course, between growing in 
grace and growing into grace, as there is 
also between growing in holiness and grow- 
ing into holiness. I call it slight because 
it is slight, relatively, and has not half the 



Sanctification. 57 

significance that is sometimes attached to it. 
One who has no grace can neither grow 
in grace nor into grace. Spiritual growth 
is not predicable of such an one in any 
sense. He must first come into a state of 
grace by conversion or the renewing of the 
Holy Spirit; then, being in grace, he can 
grow in grace, and into morei and more of 
it. He can laimch out into the deep water 
of the boundless sea of God's love and 
grace, and add to his store of spiritual 
treasure till filled with all the fullness of 
God. By daily acquisitions he grows in 
and into grace, becoming more spiritual, 
more devout, and approaches nearer the 
summit of holiness with every accession of 
grace to grace. Growth is more properly 
predicated of spiritual life than of holiness 



68 SANCTrFICATION. 

or purity, as only sucli things as have the 
element of life in them grow literally. But 
the word used metaphorically denotes in- 
crease, progress, advancement; for there is 
growth by accretion as well as by the ex- 
pansion of life. So there is growth in holi- 
ness if there is progress or advancement. 
As the life implanted in the soul in re- 
generation expands and gathers strength, 
there is a normal spiritual growth, with the 
development of new powers and activities, 
a veritable increase of spiritual vitality 
which lifts the renewed man into nearer and 
holier communion with Grod. Every acces- 
sion of spiritual energy advances the Divine 
life and indicates in the soul greater con- 
formity to the law of love. In this sense 
there is growth in grace and into grace, and 



Sanctifioation. 69 

growth in holiness and into higher degrees 
of holiness. 

Here this point might he concluded bnt 
for the persistence of theorists who see more 
in it than properly belongs to it. Then 
suffer a little reiteration. A building 
grows as it advances towards completion. 
A city grows as it increases in population. 
A man grows in knowledge as he accumu- 
lates information; he grows in wealth as he 
increases his possessions. The house grows 
into a state nearer the ideal of the builder. 
The city grows into greater power and 
greater influence, and the man grows into 
additional knowledge and into larger 
wealth. In this sense the Christian who 
advances in knowledge, wisdom, and purity, 
grows into purity as well as in purity. The 



60 Sanctificatiot^. 

babe in Cbrist is in Christ, and tberefore 
in grace, and if he abide in Christ and in- 
crease in knowledge and strength, he grows 
in grace and into grace; and if with his 
steadfastness and increase of grace he be^ 
comes more and more holy, there is not the 
least impropriety in saying that he grows 
in holiness and into holiness — intO' a higher 
state and degree of holiness. Thus it ap- 
pears that the use intended to be made of 
this distinction between growing ^^in'' and 
^^into'' is a profitless play on word's without 
doctrinal significance; for it can not be that 
continued and persistent growth in holiness 
will forever fail of reaching the standard 
fixed by the apostle for growing believers, 
"perfecting holiness in the fear of God/' 
If by daily self-denial, and constant watch- 



Sanotification". 61 

fulness and prayer, and persistent devotion 
to duty, one can increase in knowledge, 
wisdom, purity, and strength, lie must be 
approaching the goal of complete cleans- 
ing and perfect love; and if the continuous 
sanctification needed and promised is a fact 
in actual experience, there is no doubt that 
the result will be complete holiness, and 
holiness wrought within by the Holy Spirit 
as truly and effectively as if wrought in an 
instant. 

God is not limited to one method of deal- 
ing with men, nor does he require of all 
men a single type of experience. Variety 
is stamped on all his works, and variety 
abounds in the world of grace as in the 
world of nature. While the essential prin- 
ciples of redemption never change, and the 
5 



62 Sanctification. 

terms of salvatioin abide without variable- 
ness, the incidents and manifestations of 
grace in the hearts of men reveal as much 
diversity as can be found' in the temper- 
aments, mental aptitudes, and outward con- 
ditions of individual life. Variety marks 
the beginnings of grace, and is found char- 
acterizing its work in all stages and grades 
of development, and it would be strange 
indeed if in its highest and completest 
revelation it should lose its wonderful free- 
dom, and become bound to a single, inflex- 
ible rule. While contending for the pos- 
sibility of progressive sanctification, and in- 
sisting that by continued advancement in 
the best elements of Christian life and 
character the state of entire sanctification 
can be attained, it is not in my thought or 



S ANCTTFIC ATION. 6 3 

In my heart to deny that it may be sought 
and found in sudden and poiwerful uplifts 
sometimes vouchsafed to men. It were un- 
Methodistic to hold otherwise. Grod can 
cut short his work in righteousness, and 
that he does and will when the conditions 
which he imposes are met, is fact beyond 
question. Many are sanctified with such 
overwhelming suddenness that the word in- 
stantaneous is not an inapt expression of it. 
My contention is not against this, but 
against making it the only possible sanc- 
tification, the only way of holiness or to 
holiness. Thousands of saints walk the 
earth in the blessed light of holiness^ — 
"righteousness and true holiness'' — who can 
not date their entrance into the perfect rest 
nor recall any startling manifestations in 



64 Sai^ctification. 

connection with it. I gladly hail these as 
the beloved of the Lord, and recognize in 
them the restored image of God, as I do 
also those whose testimony points to a given 
day of complete deliverance, and whoso 
lives conform to their testimony and banish 
all doubt of its truthfulness. 



IV. 

The vital doctrine of spiritual gro^vtli 
is so intimately related both to sanctifica- 
tion and Christian perfection that it must 
be still further considered. It is neither 
assumed nor presumed that any one in- 
tentionally disparages growth in grace and 
in Christian character in the interest of 
some theory or phase of the work of sanc- 
tification; but the fact can not be ignored 
that this result is reached to the discourage- 
ment and bewilderment of many good peo- 
ple, by the habitual repetition of the say- 
ing that one ^^can not grow into grace/' in 
connection with the emphasis given to the 

instantaneous feature of the work. In or- 
65 



66 SANCTIFICATIOlsr. 

der to liave real force or significance for 
the purpose for which this phrase is used, 
it ought to be assumed' that the grace of 
entire sanctification is a new grace to be 
entered at the time of the consummation 
of the workj having no kinship or relation 
to the grace received or entered at con- 
version, so that the incipient sanctification 
coincident with regeneration can not by 
any possibility grow or develop into the 
higher grace. It may be that this mean- 
ing has some obscure lodgment in the minds 
of those who use the phrase; but if so, it has 
not been avowed, and may not be assumed 
as true; and yet it seems necessary to the 
completeness of the doctrine in behalf of 
which the favorite expression is employed. 
If the grace of the higher attainment is 



SANCTIFICATIOlSr. 67 

tlie same in kind as that of the incipient 
spiritual life and the beginning of sanctifi- 
cation, there appears no good reason for 
denying the possibility of the earlier grace 
growing into that of the higher degree. 

Although sanctification is a work 
wrought by the Holy Spirit, and not a 
growth in the strict sense of the .word, it 
nevertheless advances with the development 
of spiritual life, which is a growth, and 
therefore it is neither erroneous nor mis- 
leading to designate all spiritual advance- 
ment as growth in grace. The Word of 
God grew as its power and influence over 
men extended; the Church grew as dis- 
ciples were multiplied; the believer grows 
up into Christ as he takes on more and 
more of the life and Spirit of Christ; so 



68 Sanctifioation. 

there can be no impropriety in affirming 
that whatever element or aspect of Chris- 
tian attainment exhibits increase or prog- 
ress, is growth in the knowledge and love 
of God. The work of sanctification ad- 
vances on the same conditions that secure 
growth in grace, or in life, or in holiness. 
It is indeed impossible to find a believer 
who complies with the conditions of 
growth, who does not develop a deeper and 
broader experience in all that is vital in 
the Christian life and character, and, there- 
fore, who does not correspondingly increase 
in holiness; and it is useless to contend that 
a life which continually increases in holi- 
ness and in all spiritual graces is not in 
the highway to the best attainment pos- 
sible to men on earth. While, in accurate 



Sanctification. 69 

conception, there is a distinction between 
growth in the sense of the expansion and 
unfolding of the life within, and the active 
work of the Spirit in sanctification, the dis- 
tinction is in the mind's conception, and is 
not so palpably important as to have prac- 
tical bearing on the progress of religion 
in the heart. The cleansing and the growth 
go hand in hand, the result of the same 
agency, the same faith, the same consecra- 
tion, tending to the same consummation, 
the perfecting of the soul in purity and in 
righteousness before God. Sanctification 
removes obstructions to growth, and the 
Spirit that purges out the old leaven also 
quickens and intensifies the activities and 
energies of ^^the new man." 

The point here insisted upon is the con- 



70 Sanctification. 

tinued or continuoiis sanctification. It be- 
gins with regeneration, and yet it is only 
in a loose or general way that we can speak 
of regeneration as sanctification begun. Re- 
generation is not sanctification at all, and 
is not the beginning of sanctification; but 
sanctification begins at the time regenera- 
tion takes place. When the renewal and 
the quickening occur, thc' washing is not 
absent. It is unfair to our standlard writers 
who clearly distinguish between regenera- 
tion and sanctification, and then tell us that 
regeneration is sanctification begun, to at- 
tribute to them any meaning other than 
that the two aspects of the work had a 
simultaneous beginning, and that the work 
of cleansing goes right along, and was not 
completed when regeneration became a 



SANCTIFICATIOJSr. 71 

fact. It is quite correct to speak of re^ 
generation as a past eyent. It is as the day 
of one's birth, an epoch, or historical fact. 
We look back to it and date from it. Not 
so with sanctification. It had a beginning, 
but not an ending. Indeed, so continuous 
is its work that it is never safe to assume 
that it is finished, or that it has become 
an historical event to be dated and labeled 
as belonging to the past. The sanctification 
of yesterday will not do for to-day. We 
might as well expect the sunlight of yes- 
terday to supply our needs for to-day as 
to expect the work of cleansing wrought 
in us in times past to meet our necessities 
for the future. Sanctification, like the 
mercies of God, must be new every morn- 
ing. New battles with the world and the 



72 Sanotifioation. 

flesh call for new victories, and new ex- 
posures to the corruptions that are in the 
world require new appropriations of the 
cleansing blood day by day. There must 
be an ^^abiding in Christ/' a continuous 
drawing from him of life and purity, as 
the branch abiding in the vine draws 
nourishment from the vine unceasingly. 
Then there must be great inaccuracy and 
great impropriety in designating a day 
when sanctification took place. The lan- 
guage making it a past event always affects 
my sensibilities unpleasantly; exciting, not 
derision, but commiseration. The broader 
and better view accepts all that is instanta- 
neous in the work as its beginning, and as 
in extraordinary and exceptional upliftings, 
and all that is continuous, likewise, as in 



Sanctification. 73 

the regular and normal advancement in 
knowledge, love, power over sin, and 
efficiency in tlie work of God, and con- 
sistently holds that growth in the divine 
life is also growth in holiness. 

As sanctification means cleansing, to be 
sanctified wholly is to be cleansed through- 
out, in every faculty and power of the soul, 
and to be cleansed thoroughly. The mind, 
will, affections, conscience, imagination, de- 
sires — all are made clean. Evil tempers, 
such as anger, pride, envy, jealousy, petu- 
lance, censoriousness, are slain and cast out, 
giving large room for the development of 
love, meekness, gentleness, kindness, for- 
bearance, patience, and sweetness. The 
germ of these new graces and virtues is 
implanted in regeneration, but their growth 



74 Sanctifioation. 

is retarded so long as sanctification is in- 
complete. When the cleansing reaches its 
ultimate purpose and victory, not only is 
the old leaven of carnality purged by the 
action of the Holy Spirit, to the destruc- 
tion of the evil passions which are of the 
spiritual nature, but even such as have a 
physical basis and give tone to all the 
others, are so subjugated and purified that 
they lose their dominating power for evil, 
and readily yield themselves as instruments 
of righteousness unto holiness. In this con- 
dition the ^^expulsive power of the new af- 
fection,'' together with the ^^inward graft- 
ing of the truth," works with marvelous 
effectiveness in advancing the graces of the 
new life towards maturity or perfection. 
The mind that was in Christ takes the 



Sanctificatioi^. 75 

place of the mind of selfishness. The love 
of Christ triumphs over the love of the 
world. The gentleness of Christ makes the 
sanctified strong, clothing him with what- 
soever is lovely and of good report, making 
it impossible for him to be morose or 
sour. There is beauty in the sanctified life 
which is always attractive. It never repels 
by assumed sanctimoniousness. It puts on 
no airs of superior sanctity, and ^S^aunteth 
not itself.'^ It never treats contemptu- 
ously the attainments of others. When 
every thought is brought into captivity to 
the obedience of Christ, envy and strife 
expire, and faultfinding with the Church, 
and with the times, and especially with 
those of smaller attainments, becomes too 
obnoxious to be cherished or tolerated. The 



76 Sanctificatiotst. 

life of sucli a one becomes a song of praise 
and proves itself a benediction. It is broad, 
generous, noble; it is a life of faith, steady, 
■unfluctuating, ever rising to wider horizons, 
and leading onward to new experiences 
in the knowledge and love of God. He 
who is thus sanctified is surely nearing the 
state of Christian perfectness; nay, may we 
not assume that ordinarily he is perfect in 
love and filled with the Spirit? He is ^^in- 
deed dead unto sin and alive unto God 
through Jesus Christ our Lord/' 

Having distinguished between entire 
sanctification as a work wrought by the 
Holy Spirit in cleansing, and the perfec- 
tion that follows the cleansing, it is not im- 
proper to recognize the fact that the re- 
sultant state of complete hoiliness means 



Sanctification. 77 

more than is expressed by tlie terms de- 
scriptive of the cleansing. There is not 
only an emptying of the heart of sin, but 
the additional work of filling it with love; 
there is not only the ^^putting off of the 
old man/' wrought in the cleansing, but 
the ^^putting on of the new man, which, 
after God, is created in righteousness and 
true holiness.'^ The double process is larger 
than the single process. It looks well to 
the Godward side, to the affiliation and the 
fellowship with the Father, the filling 
bringing into the soul more than was cast 
out by the emptying. 

While in a true sense the first conditions 
the second, the entire sanctification prepar- 
ing for the fullness of God, it is not neces- 
sary to assume that in all cases the fuU- 

6 



78 Sanctification. 

ness ensues at tlie moment of the cleansing. 
The latter may be as gradual as the 
former, and yet it will not be serious error 
if we accept it as the rule to expect Grod 
to come in as fast as sin goes out; that the 
new man is put on as rapidly as the old 
man is put off; that the rising with Christ 
takes place at the instant of the death unto 
sin. Taking this as the rule, it still re- 
mains in the realm of possibility that there 
may be exceptions, and that in some ex- 
periences where the heart is clean the love 
of God is not perfected, as all the active 
graces have not come to maturity. Chris- 
tian perfection means so much, and in- 
cludes such a wide range of spiritual graces, 
that there must be variety in its attain- 
ment as well as in its manifestation. All 



Sanctification. T9 

the frnit of tlie Spirit may not ripen at 
onoe; but this is not to hinder our faith 
in the possibility of complete salvation for 
every child of God. The babe in Christ 
will grow to the fullness of the stature of 
a perfect man, and the Holy Grhost will 
dwell within as an abiding Guest — nay, as 
the Lord of the mansion — the life and li^ht 
and glory of the living temple. 



Aftee wliat lias been said, some will 
possibly receive tbe impression that, wbile 
discouraging tbeorizing on tbe subject of 
sanctification, I am indulging to some ex- 
tent in that whicli I disapprove in others. 
This inconsistency may appear on the face 
of what is written, but will disappear on 
closer thought. The exploiting of a theory 
with a view to elucidate the whole process 
of the cleansing, with its method and mode, 
and holding it as complete and exclusive., 
so as to set aside as untrue all that is- not 
contained in it, is exceedingly objection- 
able. A theory which says that Grod does 

or must do his work in this way, and not 
80 



Sanctification. 81 

in ttat way, prodiucing this type of ex- 
perience, and no otber, assumes too much, 
induces bigotry in its votaries, and repels 
by its positiveness; but to recognize all the 
varied and essential features of personal ex- 
perience as developed in the consciousness 
of advanced Christians, and .attested by the 
Spirit, is necessary to the best apprehension 
of the subject. Such is the purpose of 
this writing. It aims, not to advance a 
theory, but to ascertain knowable truth — 
to bring out as much of the hidden mys- 
tery of salvation as our minds can grasp, 
and be content with that, without trying 
to penetrate the darkness which conceals 
the mode of the Divine procedlure. We 
stand in awe before the incomprehensible 
love of God, accepting gladly what is re- 



82 Sanctifioation. 

vealed, and with equal gladness adore the 
wisdom which reserves so much for the 
revelations of the future. Instead of set- 
ting theory against theory, or of belittling 
the experience of any, it seems wiser in 
every way to search for a doctrine of Di- 
vine cleansing which is great enough to 
provide for every want of every soul, to 
furnish room for every phase of God's 
work, and broad enough to comprise every 
type and every degree of progress made 
in any one's advancement from spiritual 
death unto the life of righteousness. It 
must be that a gospel which does not pro- 
vide for all the types and grades of ex- 
perience possible to eiamest men seeking 
God, is in itself imperfect, and inadequate 
as a remedy for human needs. Theories 



S AIsTCTIFIC ATION. 8 3 

devised by men fall short of this standard, 
but the glorious gospel of Christ knows no 
limitations. We want no theory that re- 
stricts God's work to a given type, or that 
becomes an iron rule to measurei all attain- 
ments as to method and form. Indeed, 
any theory is useless that is less than the 
gospel, or that fails to account for any and 
every possible manifestation of grace in 
any genuine experience. 

In studying different types of experience 
the various temperaments of people must 
be taken into the account, as well as their 
training and habits; for all these play im- 
portant parts in determining what they will 
do and how they will proceed in seeking 
God, and coming into the Christian life, 
as well as in advancing to the higher states 



84 Sanctification*. 

of grace. ^^Many men of many minds/' 
and men of extremely different environ- 
ments, are to be met and rescued and trans- 
formed — cleansed and built up in the like- 
ness of God. The gospel, if Divine, must 
have provisions and be sufficiently flexible 
to meet every condition, and to fit the 
peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of every in- 
dividual. It is therefore unwise to expect 
that all will receive the grace of God in 
the same way, while there is great folly 
in supposing that by any possible con- 
straint every one can be brought to jneas- 
ure up to one given type of Christian 
experience, either in its earlier or later 
stages. Diversity jnarks the work of God 
from incipiency to consummation. 

Let it not be forgotten, as remarked here- 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 8 5 

tofore, that the foundation principles of 
redemption and the essential terms of sal- 
vation are always the same; but that in 
the revelations of saving power in the soul, 
and in all the steps of progress following 
the induction into Christ, there are in- 
numerable varieties, giving to each man 
an experience that is personal and unique. 
From all this the fact is readily deducible 
that it is improper to make any man's 
experience a standard or a model for the 
experience of other people. There is no 
model experience. Christ is the model 
man. His active life as a man was per- 
fect, and to. be imitated; but he never ex- 
perienced the cleansing or washing from 
sin which our sanctification implies. He 
was not regenerated or sanctified as sin- 



8 6 S ANCTIFIC ATioisr. 

ners must be; and therefore lie never il- 
lustrated in anytMng lie did or suffered 
the process of passing from sin to holiness. 
He declared and lived up to the standard 
of moral purity necessary for our complete 
union with himself, and made the way pos- 
sible, so that every one, each with his per- 
sonal characteristics and his individual en- 
vironments, may come up to the full meas- 
ure of duty and privilege without in the 
least ceasing to be himself. The quiet man 
of phlegmatic temperament can reach the 
high standard, and continue quiet; while 
the man of impulsive nature will rise, per- 
haps more rapidly, to the same standard, 
but with almost superhuman emotions and 
marvelous demonstrations. 

But what of these universally acknowl- 



Sanctification. 87 

edged facts? Whj mention tbem here? 
They bear on the question of mode or 
method in sanctificationj and in all spirit- 
ual attainments. They are particularly sug- 
gestive in connection with what sometimes 
appears to be a conflict between the doc- 
trine of continuous sanctification and what 
is known as the ^^second blessing" theory. 
In view of the amount of stress laid on 
this theory in many places, it seems im- 
proper to pass it over without mention^ al- 
though to analyze or discuss it as a theory 
transcends my design. Both these ^^theo- 
ries" look to the same result. They con- 
template the perfect cleansing. They are 
not in conflict except when one is made 
to exclude the other, and is held as the 
only possible form of sanctification. When 



88 Sanctification. 

each is kept in its place they are not ex- 
clusive. Hence, without inconsistency, 
one may accept both these theories, and it 
seems necessary to do this in order to take 
in the whole gospel, and to include all 
types of personal experience and testimony. 
As theories they appear antagonistic, but 
as affirmations of different phases or types 
of genuine experience, they are harmo- 
nious, and one is the complement of the 
other. But in fairness it must be said, in 
order to a good understanding, that in my 
thought, the continuous sanctification 
which accompanies the regular unfolding 
and expansion of the life element in the 
quickened soul, is rightly accounted the 
ordinary and orderly process; while the 
mighty upheaval in the emotional nature, 



Sanctification. 89 

which results in the spiritual uplift known 
as the second blessing, is an extraordinary 
manifestation vouchsafed under unusual 
conditions. That it is many times a most 
blessed reality is not to be questioned. 
God's wonderful love is equal to all emer- 
gencies, and extraordinary revealings of 
power respond to vehement calls from the 
depths of penitence. The great thing is the 
purified heart, whether it come like the 
rush of the tornado, or with the gentle- 
ness of the refreshing breeze. It is not the 
manner of the process, but the result that 
abides — the purity which leads onward 
with the progress of spiritual life to that 
maturity which is perfection. The heart 
purified, whether suddenly or gradually, 
becomes the banqueting-house of the King. 



90 Sanctification. 

It is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The 
Son comes to abide, and brings the Father, 
and fills the temple with love. Who that 
enjoys this will contend about the mode of 
the incoming, or the process? 

The effect of the cleansing, the sancti- 
fication, is holiness, that holiness which 
conditions maturity and perfection. Holi- 
ness in men is relative. In God' it is abso- 
lute and underived. With him it is not 
an attainment, but one of the perfections 
of his being, and has no process, and can 
not have degrees. With us it is an attain- 
ment, having a process and existing in de^ 
grees. It is an effect, the product of an 
agency working within, and working in 
harmony with the law of our being, the 
invincible nature with which we aire en- 



Sanctificatiot^^ 91 

dowed. It is possible, therefore, that holi- 
ness in us may be more or less complete^ 
and exist in degrees, even after the cleans- 
ing, so that those sanctified need to go on 
habitnally practicing self-denial, and ^^per- 
fecting holiness in the fear of Grod.'^ 

It was dionbtless such a view as this that 
induced the fathers to be so guarded in de- 
fining the highest attainable experience, 
restricting it to "established adult believ- 
ers. '^ They included in it more than the 
process of washing — more than incipient 
holiness — even the fullness of love, ma- 
tured and ripened into the image of God. 
In their high conception there was not only 
the indwelling Spirit, but the fruit of the 
Spirit in full cluster. It is well to urge 
young Christians to seek purity of heart, 



92 Sanctification. 

to induce them to aspire after it witli all 
earnestness, as a present privilege secured 
by faitli in Christ without delay, but not 
to mislead them to the assumption that 
heart-purity is the whole of Christian per- 
fection. Those thoroughly sanctified need 
time to test their attainments, ^Ho prove 
their own selves,'' and to reach intelligent 
conclusions. Then they may become wit- 
nesses indeed, and their testimony will 
mean something. Much in our day passes 
for testimony which i^ not. The mere re- 
cital of a sentiment is not testimony. That 
only is testimony which springs from the 
heart, which declares a truth known and 
tested, which alleges a fact discerned and 
apprehended in the consciousness, and made 
palpable to the understanding. The wit- 



SATSTCTIFTCATTOTSr. 93 

ness knows what lie affirms. What he has 
felt andl seen he tells with confidence. 
Much more such testimony is needed in 
the Chnrch. Holiness is promoted by it, 
and every virtue of the Christian life is 
made stronger and advanced toward ma- 
turity under its inspiring influence. 



VI. 

The attitude of the Churcli towards this 
theme at the present time is important, for 
that alone will sway the minds of many 
people. Does the Methodist Episcopal 
Church stand to-day where she stood in the 
years that have gone? Does she hold fast 
the standards? Does she revere the testi- 
mony of the fathers? Does she, as of old, 
make holiness the objective point in all her 
teaching? At least in profession she cer- 
tainly does. There has been no modifica- 
tion of her doctrine in this respect, and 
no serious dissatisfaction with it, so far as 
appears in her pulpits or literature. Then, 

ha^ there come over her spirit such apathy 
94 



S ANCTIFICATIOlSr. 9 5 

as to create the necessity for extraordinary 
measures to awaken her to a proper sense 
of her duty and calling? It is proper that 
this question be propounded, and that it 
be answered, not according to one's feel- 
ings or preferences, but by the facts exist- 
ing and open to the observation of all men. 
It must be admitted that there is occasion 
for anxiety and earnest solicitude. Shall 
we faithfully consider the situation and the 
best method of improvement? 

The ministry must be held to large re- 
sponsibility for the spiritual state of the 
Church. Has there been deterioration? 
One must think closely before pronouncing 
a positive conclusion. 

Large numbers have come into the pul- 
pits of Methodism with little knowledge of 



96 Sanctification. 

the early straggles of our founders, or of 
the doctrinal contests through which they 
passed in reaching the conclusions which 
have become our inheritance. These young 
men com© with theological opinions molded 
in schools where Methodist standards are 
not the text-books, and where there is large 
desire to keep abreast of the times in mod- 
ern exegesis and' criticism. With com- 
mendable zeal they enter the pastorate as 
Methodist preachers, with slight apprecia- 
tion of the symbols of our faith and of the 
peculiarities which distinguish us from the 
Churches around us. It is not strange, 
therefore, that now and then new shadings 
of thought appear in the interpretations 
of the faith given to our people. With- 
out intent to depart from our doctrines, 



Sanctification. 97 

some of our youngerly men take on the 
tone and terminology of others not in ac- 
cord with, our traditions, and tinge their 
preacliing with colorings out of harmony 
with what many of us deem regular. So 
much we must concede to those who ex- 
press fears that our distinguishing tenets 
are being forgotten; and, conceding this, 
we would' not ignore the danger of drifting 
in the winds of popular thought after 
loosening from the moorings of the past. 
We therefore earnestly ask whether we 
have safeguarded the treasure committed 
to our care. 

So far as this could be done by Church 
action, we have secured the future most 
thoroughly. The primary design of Meth- 
odism is set f oi*th conspicuously in our Dis- 



9 8 SaNCTIFIC ATION. 

cipline. No one can read our connectional 
proclamation to the world withont learn- 
ing that we recognize ours as a providential 
mission ^^to spread Scriptural holiness over 
these lands/' At their induction intO' the 
office our ministers avow their faith in our 
doctrines, pledge themselves to preach and 
maintain them, and declare that they ^^ex- 
pect to be made perfect in love in this 
life/' and that they ^We earnestly striving 
after it." Every one is therefore com- 
mitted to this doctrine, and pledged to its 
promulgation, and therefore there can not 
be an enemy to holiness in our ministry. 
Incidental deviations from our standards, 
as above indicated, are exceptional, and to 
be regretted. The Church stands upon 
foundations which have not been shaken. 



S ANCTIFIC ATION. 9 9 

But that the spirit of apathy too often pre- 
vails is not to be dbnied. In spite of good 
intentions, lethargy creeps into the 
Churches and benumbs the energies of 
preachers and people, resulting in much 
loss of power. Whither shall we turn for 
the remedy? Shall we look outside of the 
Church to find it? 

In other lines of human activity, as in 
the sciences, the arts, and in the profes- 
sions, as well as in business, much of the 
best work is done by specialists — by those 
who devote time, learning, talents, and their 
best energies to a particular topic or method 
of investigation, so as to secure all the 
advantages of concentration. Is it not well 
to encourage specialists in the Church? A 
division of work is necessary in all great 

LofO. 



100 Sanotification. 

enterprises. In this great field some must 
be pastors, some teachers, some editors, 
some publishers, and some given to the 
superintendency. Each does more effective 
service in his place than he could do by 
trying to work in all departments. Some 
have special gifts for revival work, and 
some for expository work, and some for 
teaching. Let each exercise his best gifts 
and work according to his best aptitudes. 
This is the Providential order. Surely, 
then, there is work for specialists in the 
Church of God. 

But this is not the kind of specialism 
in mind when the work of promoting holi- 
ness is in question. The selection of a par- 
ticular doctrine, or some phase of a doc- 
trine, and giving it undue prominence, and 



Sanctification. 101 

magnifying it so as to make more of it 
than belongs to it — that is a different thing. 
'No matter how important the dioctrine in 
itself and in its proper relation, there is 
unwisdom in making a hobby of it. By 
making too much of sanctification some 
other doctrine is inevitably disparaged. 
The harmony of things is broken. Ex- 
tremes beget extremes. The specialist al- 
ways becomes an extremist. By pushing 
his specialty he provokes opposition or in- 
duces indifference in others. Besides, the 
lifting of any single doctrine out of its 
place distorts the truth to the disparage- 
ment of the gospel itself, and the weaken- 
ing of its power over the unsaved. In 
every aspect of the case it seems unfortu- 
nate that the subject of holiness should be 



102 S ANCTIFIC ATION. 

turned over to specialists. Good men they 
may be, but they can not be wise, and their 
methods are never well adapted' to build- 
ing up symmetrical Christian character. 
There is need that the whole Church awake 
to the importance of her position as the 
Divinely appointed instrumentality for 
promoting and spreading Scriptural holi- 
ness. The preachers must lead. Much can 
be done in our theological schools, and 
much in our Conferences, while our ex- 
amining boards can be exceedingly help- 
ful in repressing factional and morbid de- 
velopments and arresting unwholesome 
tendencies in the ministry. There is need 
for vigilance in all the lines of our Church 
activities. 

All the Lord's people ought to be a holy 



Sanctificatio]^. 1 03 

people. Tlie Church is a chosen genera- 
tion, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a 
peculiar people. In their baptismal cov- 
enant they are every one consecrated 
and set apart to a sacred service. In re- 
cent years there has come into use a de- 
scriptive phrase — ^^holiness people" — 
which strikes the sensibilities of conscien- 
tious men and women unpleasantly be- 
cause of its discriminating implications. In 
a good sense, all Methodists are ^^holines^ 
people," and yet such a designation under 
existing conditions would be regarded as 
unfortunate, if not offensive. Such is the 
power of association! In connection with 
this appears also a habit which good peo- 
ple ought to deprecate — that of looking 
upon all who do not identify themselves 



1 04 Sanctification. 

with the so-called' ^^holiness people" as 
enemies of holiness. This is sad. The 
great body of Church members are intelli- 
gent enough to dissent from the peculiar 
methods of these specialists without reject- 
ing the doctrine of holiness as taught by 
the Church, or becoming alien to its spirit. 
O how we need to widen out! 

After all, the best people in the world 
are sanctified people. They fear God, and 
walk humbly before him. In their hearts 
there is neither bigotry nor bitterness. 
They find good in Christians of all grades 
of experience, and lament what they can 
not commend. They are magnanimous as 
well as humble, and grateful as well as 
charitable. Their measure is found in the 
thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, in 



S ATTCTIFIC ATION. 105 

the apostle's description of love. Whatever 
is there said' of love may be said of him 
who loves God supremely and his neighbor 
as himself. In such an one there is not 
an element of self-righteousness, pride, or 
vainglory — nothing forced or artificial — 
nothing that repels. For him or his pro- 
fession no apology is requisite. His holi- 
ness needs no vocal proclamation. The 
light of it shines forth with steady and in- 
creasing ray. His faith excludes boastful- 
ness and censoriousness, while his love de- 
lights in goodness, and leads him to rejoice 
in every observable token of prosperity in 
the Church of God. 



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